Washington LB takes heat

On Sunday afternoon, Robert Henson was a mostly unknown reserve linebacker for the Washington Redskins, a first-year player who had never played in an NFL game and was best known for being the son-in-law of television pastor T.D. Jakes.

By Sunday evening, a few hours after Washington’s unsightly 9-7 victory over the St. Louis Rams, Henson had taken up an online battle against a segment of disgruntled Redskins fans, calling them disloyal “dim wits” who “work 9 to 5 at Mcdonalds.”

Almost immediately, Henson became one of the anti-heroes of a game he had watched from the sidelines, doused with criticism and insults on sports-talk radio shows and Internet message boards. And by Monday afternoon, Henson sheepishly exited Redskins Park, accompanied by several team spokesmen, to apologize for a Twitter-enabled diatribe against fans that provided him his first moment of NFL fame.

It was also a particularly 2009-vintage media storm, fueled by the pent-up frustrations of Redskins fans and the temptations of Twitter. The team was booed throughout Sunday’s win.

“I thought it was a shame, to be honest with you,” tight end Chris Cooley, one of the team’s most popular players, said in the locker room. “I think Washington prides themselves on being the best fans, and I think that they should try to be the best fans. We won. I understand they wanted us to beat the Rams by 40, but we still won, and if we continue to win games, that’s great. Booing’s unnecessary.”

This was a 20th-century response, spoken into microphones and tape recorders, and then shown on the evening news and printed on newsprint. Henson took a different approach.

“All you fake half hearted Skins fan can ... I won’t go there, but I dislike you very strongly, don’t come to Fed Ex to boo dim wits!!” he wrote shortly after the game ended, a message that would have been seen by his 1,200 or so Twitter followers.